Rugby News

Date

Team

Opponents

H/A

Coll score

Opps score

W/L/D

7.12.09

1st

Robert Gordons

A

13

0

W

After big performances against Merchiston and Academy, the match against Robert Gordon's was always going to prove tricky. In difficult conditions, playing into a strong wind, Glenalmond once again proved what a difficult team they have become to play against. With the majority of possession and territory in their favour, Gordon's failed to create any clear cut chances and were frequently turned over by the consistently impressive Glenalmond back row and in particular hooker Matt Potter. Glenalmond's defence proved impenetrable and the sides turned around 0-0 at half time. With the strong wind and the kicking of Sam Macleod in their favour Coll turned up the heat on their opponents. A penalty from Nicoll finally broke the deadlock and forced Gordon's on to the attack. With the conditions as they were this played in to Glenalmond's hands. A dominant pack took control and the pressure finally told with a barnstorming try from Hardie. This was quickly followed by an impressive kick and chase from Nicoll who beat the covering defence to the touch down. Whilst not at their best, a solid win at a difficult venue.

Scorers:

Nicoll – 5

Hardie – 5

2nd

Robert Gordons

A

7

0

W

U16 A

Robert Gordons

A

19

17

W

U16 B

Robert Gordons

A

17

34

L

Colts A

H

35

0

W

JCA

H

26

12

W

Team

Opponents

H/A

Coll score

Opps score

W/L/D

28.11.09

1st

Edinburgh Academy

H

11

15

L

In an emotional last home match of the season, Glenalmond came very close to snatching what would have been a remarkable victory against a much vaunted Academy side.

2nd

Edinburgh Academy

H

12

35

L

In a disappointing game which never seemed to flow, we lost 12-35 to a strong, well drilled Academy team. We competed effectively up front, but they had too much pace and power in the backs. After giving away a soft opening try with a wheeled scrum letting their scrum-half clean away, we struck back through a quickly taken penalty near the Academy line, with Oscar Eriksen making a rare appearance on the score sheet. Rob Horne converted as usual to make it 7-7. Indecisive tackling let them regain the lead, then a set line-out ploy gave the position for Doug Meikle to score his customary try. He had another excellent game, and shortly after this he followed up a kick and, as a 2nd row, chased down with pure pace a centre and then a wing. If there had been anyone with him, another score would have been on.

At 12-14 down at half time, it was still winnable. However a good spell of play ended with a penalty for not releasing, and in a moment of madness we gave away a series of penalties for undisciplined back chat to the referee, which not only saw us marched from their 22 to our 10m line, but also left us without a scrum-half for the next 10 minutes. With our being a man short, the Academy backs pounced, spreading the ball wide to stretch us, and kicking into the gaps that appeared, and rapidly put us to the sword.

What a silly way to throw away a potentially winnable game.

3rd

Edinburgh Academy

H

29

27

W

U16 A

Edinburgh Academy

H

10

5

W

Colts A

Edinburgh Academy

A

35

10

L

Colts B

Edinburgh Academy

A

38

12

W

JCA

Edinburgh Academy

A

20

0

W

JCB

Edinburgh Academy

A

21

37

L

It was a disappointing first half to watch as the boys did not get into the swing of the game. Hector Mackenzie made a valiant effort to reach the try line in the first 2 minutes but sadly got taken down and with no support close by he couldn't pass the ball on. With several missed opportunities and sloppy ball handing we were 8 - 16 down at the end of the first half.

The second half was one to watch, the team started to work as a team, the ball handling improved, the communication between players was evident and they actually looked like they wanted to win. Sadly at the final whistle the score was 21-37 against us but Coll played a very good second half of rugby. Had they played the first with the same commitment as the second I think we would be looking at a different score!

Man of the match has to go to Oliver Wrigley (S).

1st XV

Glenalmond were eagerly awaiting the visit of Merchiston, always a highlight in the season. In a game that never lacked excitement, Merchiston took an early lead with a powerful catch and drive from a line-out. Nicoll responded with a penalty before Macleod finished a great passage of play by crashing over in the corner. Merchiston responded with another try from close range, but Coll undeterred by the visitors efforts, pressurized a Merchiston clearance kick with Mac Sinclair-Parry pouncing on the charge-down for his debut 1st XV try, taking the half-time score to 13-14.Nicoll slotted another penalty for Glenalmond to take the lead at the start of the 2nd half.

Then, despite heroic defence, Merchiston battered the Coll line with successive pick and drives, eventually finding success. At 16-19 Coll came storming back, Merchiston slipped offside in front of their posts, and Nicoll stepped up to tie the scores with another penalty. The result was a fair reflection of play, but should not disguise the massive passion and commitment the 1st XV demonstrated.

Scorers:

Macleod 5

Sinclair-Parry 5

Nicoll 9 (3 penalties)

 H/A

 Coll Score

 Opps score

 W/L/D

A

0

29

L

The U-18 Scottish Schools Cup team lost 0-29 to Robert Gordon's College in a game played in wet and windy conditions at Countesswells. The SRU insistence that this game be played on a Saturday sandwiched by two top-priority regular school fixtures led to a significantly under-strength side being put out. In the event, the team showed pride and character to hold the score line to 0-0 at half-time, and it was only the loss of our fly-half, Calum McCoss, with an injury just after half time which resulted in a slight lack of shape and direction after that and hence our undoing.

Several players showed real potential in this game, and although Douglas Meikle and George Proctor were outstanding, McCoss, Jock Cameron, Lochlann Robertson and Oliver Fergusson were among those who should take a lot of confidence in their ability to cope at 1st XV level back for their remaining games with their normal 2nd , 3rd and U-16 XVs.

Some of these will undoubtedly figure in the Development program next term and, if fortune smiles, the XV next year.

H

50

0

W

With Gordonstoun having played a cup game on Tuesday and making the long journey south, one might have expected Glenalmond to make the stronger start. However, this was not the case as the visitors made life uncomfortable for Coll in the opening quarter. Nonetheless, Davidson, sparked Glenalmond into life with a sharp break in midfield, as Coll moved into their stride with three more tries before the break.

In the second half, despite a spirited performance from the Gordonstoun forwards, who remained competitive to the end, Glenalmond cut loose behind the scrum. Macleod bagged 4 tries and Davidson managed a hat-trick in a contest that gave Coll the perfect boost before the Merchiston game.

Scorers:

Tries: Davidson (3); Macleod (4); Campbell (1)

Conversions: Nicoll (5)

H

10

0

W

H

57

0

W

H

64

0

W

A

28

20

W

Recent games against Fettes (the existing holders of the U18 Schools' Cup) have been very close. This was no exception. Glenalmond produced their best half of rugby this season in the opening period. Tries from Potter and Russell from short range reflected the growing confidence of the Glenalmond pack with Nicoll supplementing the total with 3 penalties as Coll raced to a 21-3 half-time lead.

In the second half Fettes came storming back with an early try as they found gaps in the Glenalmond midfield and added a further penalty. However, with one player in the sin bin, the hosts were short handed at a 5 metre scrum as Hardie powered over, extending the lead to 28-15. Fettes produced a second try before Glenalmond finished the game with a strong defensive display in the final 10 minutes.

Scorers

Tries: Potter; Russell G; Hardie.

Conversions: Nicoll 2

Penalties: Nicoll 3

A

W

A

A

19

0

W

H

10

26

L

This was a far more encouraging performance from the B's who contested a hard fought game and were unlucky to concede 7 points on the last play of the match. Despite turning around 7 points down at half-time Glenalmond had defended well and given a strong Fettes side a lot to think about. A few injuries and rolling subs disrupted the play at times but Vitia Malkov scored a good try with George Fleming adding a conversion and a penalty. There was good work from the forwards, rucking improved and the line-out was excellent. The backs ran hard and tackled like demons - an enjoyable and well contested match.

H

8

7

W

H

12

7

L

H

0

43

L

H

14

12

W

In perfect conditions at Neish's on Saturday, Glenalmond began the encounter dominating possession and territory. Having missed a penalty, Coll returned to Strathallan's 22 and found space down the blind side for captain Jock Brooke to put Freddie Swift over in the corner. Nicoll added a penalty to extend the lead but Strathallan came back strongly to score from close quarters before the break leaving the half time score at 8-5.

In the second half, Glenalmond pressed hard as Sam Macleod powered over and Tom Robertson benefited from a charge down to score. Murdo Nicoll added the two conversions to take Coll to a 22-5 lead. Strath demonstrated their character and resilience to bounce back with a couple of well-worked tries as the margin was reduced to 22-17. However, Glenalmond held their nerve in the dying minutes to return to Strathallan's 22. Murdo Nicoll turned the defence with a neat kick, before kicking a final penalty to seal the victory.

Tries: Swift, Macleod, Robertson
Conversions: Nicoll (2)
Penalties: Nicoll (2)

We arrived at Strathallan and I was informed that Strathallan only had 8 active players, so with a bit of sorting out and lending of player we managed to get a 12 aside game set up.

From the start Glenalmond dominated the first half with several tries from Ranulph Cameron which were very nicely converted by Alexander Campbell. There was a noticeable improvement from from last week's game with more dedicated tackles, communication up and down the field and a much more positive buzz around the players.

With injuries on both sides the second half dropped to 10 a side, there were uncontested scrums and both teams started to lose momentum. Glenalmond stood strong till the last few remaining minutes when players were noticeably getting tired and errors started to appear. Overall the boys played well and credit goes to those who left their team to help out the opposition.

That we were outplayed by a better side was clear. What was disappointing was the manner of defeat. Our kick-off was run back at us, and gaping holes appeared from nowhere in the midfield to enable Watsons to score within the first minute. Shortly after, our midfield defence again evaporated to increase the deficit. After that, we started to put things together, and probably had slightly the better of the second quarter, though only a penalty to show for it.

Had we maintained that momentum in the second half, the game was not beyond redemption. However the defence again surrendered meekly to an easy line, and then heads went down. It is easy to blame the fact that our back line was operating basically with a scrum half and 6 wings. Whilst this might lead to some wrong lines in attack, it does not absolve anyone from personal responsibility for holding a line and making head-on tackles.

Training this week will be very focused!

The match against George Watsons was not a match to dwell on, it was a match to learn from and gain ideas to find out what went wrong. I think that the match could and probably should have had a better start. The reason why we did not have a good start is because the team was bickering a bit and didn't have much focus. One of the down sides of the match was that we had to borrow a couple of members of the other team. It was very generous of them to lend us the players but I think that it was very difficult to know what to do with them as they were after all the opponents. George Watsons was a very good team, had played more matches than our team and was the stronger side. Some of the things which we can learn from this match is to practice more on the scrums, rucks and maybe see about players playing in different positions. More aggression and passion is needed in tackling: we should be going in thinking that we are going to bring them down. But despite all of this I would like to congratulate the team and just add that this was our first match as a newly formed team.

Rory Pritchard Skrines (Junior Entry)

Mintlaw & Ellon Academies

 A

 67

 0

 W

In the first round of cup rugby for Glenalmond a young squad made the journey north beyond Aberdeen. In perfect conditions against a physically strong side from the two combined schools, Glenalmond produced an outstanding performance with the whole squad involved.

Regularly moving the point of attack and making some great offloads, Glenalmond scored 10 tries in a fine attacking performance.

Try scorers:

Robertson L. 2; Fyfe 3; Hardie 2; Mackenzie-Smith 1; Russell G 1

Meikle 1;

Conversions

Hardie 4

Nicoll 3

Penalties

Glenalmond made a storming start to this game on Neish's. With the wind in their favour in the first half, Coll produced sustained pressure but could not cross the Loretto line. Nicoll struck three good penalties from close range but Glenalmond were to pay dearly for turning down two more eminently kickable opportunities.

On a day with the wind howling the length of the pitch, it was always going to be a game of two halves. Playing initially with the wind, we started strongly, recycling and moving ball effectively. Having been denied a couple of times by minor errors, Loretto struck back and we failed to use the gale to help clear our lines. Gradually we re-asserted control, and at half time had driven twice across their line from close in, to give us a 12-0 buffer; not much in the conditions.

When they scored from a close range penalty to make it 12-7 it looked ominous, but it was merely the catalyst needed to ignite our best play of the year. With clearance kicks making no headway, a series of pick and drives saw us re-establish dominance, and our superior fitness began to tell. The backs found it easier to keep depth and pace passing into the wind, with Archie Bound and Rory Anderson both running telling lines from Marcus Fenton's excellent service. From that point we added 3 tries Reynolds making an instant impact from the bench - without ever coming under pressure again to give a 29-7 score line to what ended as our best display so far this term.

After a disappointing first game, Glenalmond were highly-motivated to make amends in the first home fixture. Early Glenalmond pressure was not translated into points in the first quarter, but an inspired chip and chase by Lewis Fyfe on his debut, produce an opportunity for Sam Macleod to drive over. Another debutant, George Smith produced a scintillating break to carve through the visitors defence and take the half-time margin to 12-0.

The second half was fragmented as Glenalmond conceded too many penalties to produce momentum and continuity. However, a fine break by Fergus Davidson in the opposition 22, followed by a strong dash for the line from 50 metres, after Gordon's spilt the ball in midfield, placed Coll in an impregnable position. A long distance penalty from Macleod extended the margin before the visitors replied with a consolation try in the dying minutes.

This was a fine performance producing a complete transformation from the previous week.

The 2nd XV started strongly, with Merlin Carnegie showing particular penetration. After several attacks, however, we only had a single penalty to show for it. A Robert Gordon's interception in their half led to a score against the run of play, and we went to half-time 3-7 down, and looking a bit jaded at the lack of points from pressure.

In the second half we came under increasing pressure ourselves as a string of injuries led to a full 7 replacements on the park, some playing out of normal position. However, as the shape of the game deteriorated, individual skills grabbed us two tries to seal the result.